Storyspinner is an exciting and challenging addition to the teacher / pupil
dynamic in the classroom. Over six lessons, aimed at KS3 English students,
Storyspinner builds a creative relationship between the students, their teacher
and a professional writer. The writer does not need to enter the classroom and
can be many hundreds of miles away.

Structure

StorySpinner is structured as a series of six lessons, covering
key curriculum areas. The online writer initiates the story and presents the
pupils with a series of narrative dilemmas which they have to solve. After each
session, their solutions are fed back to the writer who provides comment and
generates the next stage of the story. This is sent back to the school to form
the basis of the next lesson. A specially developed website acts as a hub for
all communications, and sends automatic confirmations or reminders to keep both
writer and teacher in pace.

Mixed Media

A significant extra dimension is added by the writer providing a
movie-style trailer for each episode. This is made possible by the use of simple
software provided. It enables the writer to blend text, images and sound -
either drawing on StorySpinners own library, making use of pictures provided by
the pupils, or created or sourced by the writers themselves.

Partners

The StorySpinner project was initiated by Teesside University
together with Creative Partnerships in the Teesside and Nottingham regions. It
was devised by digital writer Tim Wright, in association
with KMA Creative Technology Ltd. It has been successfully
piloted in Manning School, Nottingham, and Hallgarth School in Middlesbrough,
with writers Mark Gwynne-Jones and David Napthine.

To read about how StorySpinner has already been used in schools, click here.

Storyspinner.net

Schools wishing to use StorySpinner should contact Paul Munden at NAWE for details and costs. A password will then be issued for you to log into Storyspinner.net